


i want your midnights

by QuietLittleVoices



Category: King Falls AM (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Jealousy, M/M, Some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-08-21 09:53:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16574246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietLittleVoices/pseuds/QuietLittleVoices
Summary: Five times Jack got irrationally jealous and one time Sammy did.





	i want your midnights

**Author's Note:**

> I'm gonna change the summary eventually but that's... exactly what it is. Classic 5+1 ! Hope you enjoy it :)

Lily took one look at Jack, walking into the kitchen with his hands tucked up under his armpits, and turned to walk out.

“Wait,” Jack said, reaching out. “Sammy’s in the living room. With a guy.”

Lily raised an eyebrow at him. “And?”

Jack shrugged, not meeting her eye. “I dunno. Go if you want, I guess. Whatever.”

Lily pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. “I can’t believe you right now.”

“I just don’t want to… bother them,” Jack muttered. “Sammy’s… like… you said he could use a date, right?”

“He could, yeah,” she confirmed. “You don’t seem to think so right now, though.”

Jack pressed his lips together tightly. “I’m happy for him.”

“Please try to sound more mad about it,” Lily teased.

“I’m not mad,” Jack countered, but he could feel the corners of his mouth turning down. “Anyway, why would I be? He’s not my boyfriend.”

Lily stared at him but didn’t say anything until Jack started to squirm under her gaze. “Do you ever listen to yourself talk?” she asked. “Just wondering how aware you are of how you sound.”

“Shut up,” he muttered. “Maybe I’m just worried that he’s gonna get hurt, huh? You don’t know.”

Lily gave him a look. “Sure. Look, I don’t doubt that you don’t want him to get hurt - but maybe that isn’t the only thing. Stop pouting.”

“I’m not,” Jack argued, but he realized that he probably was and tried to change his expression.

Sammy poked his head into the kitchen. “Alex and I were thinking of going to see a movie, do you guys wanna come?”

Lily smiled at him tightly. “I’m busy but I’m sure Jack would  _ love _ that,” she said, voice dripping with sarcasm as she moved past Sammy.

Sammy turned to Jack in confusion. “Is she… okay?”

Jack shrugged. “It’s Lily. What do you think?”

“Fair,” Sammy said with a nod. “ _ Do _ you wanna come with us?”

Jack felt his stomach turn at the idea of sitting next to Sammy and - whatever his name was, hanging all over Sammy. “I’m actually busy, too. Got a big exam coming up.”

Sammy didn’t look totally convinced. “Okay. I’ll see you later then?”

Jack smiled and reached out to pat Sammy’s shoulder as he walked past. He didn’t let his hand linger. “Later.”

 

“If looks could kill…” Sammy muttered, sidling up next to Jack. “What did that guy do to you?”

They were at a wine and cheese event for the journalism program in a basement cafe on campus. It was cramped but less than a quarter of the program had turned out, as was typical. Jack had always found it fun, though - the undergrad presentations and games had been good ice breakers in the past. 

He wasn’t having fun tonight. “Nothing,” he said back, uncrossing his arms.

Sammy raised an eyebrow and looked around before putting his hand on Jack’s arm, just for a moment. “Do you wanna go home?”

Jack shook his head and smiled at Sammy. “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.”

“If you say so,” Sammy relented. “But just say the word and we can leave.”

It  _ was _ fine. Really, it was. Jack wasn’t lying to Sammy - just because he was overreacting didn’t mean it wasn’t fine. 

But the guy in the corner couldn’t take his eyes off Sammy and so Jack kept looking over and glaring - he admits it - at him.

“Seriously,” Sammy said as they finally walked home in the dark, slightly before the end of the event but not so early as to be noticed, “what did Mike do to you?”

“Nothing!” Jack replied, putting his hands up defensively. “Seriously, it was nothing.”

Sammy pressed his lips together and reached over to take Jack’s hand in the dark. “It’s not nothing if you’re so worked up. Did he say something to you?”

Jack sighed. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” Sammy repeated. “But we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

Jack wished that Sammy was a little bit less understanding for a second. He knew that he should just  _ say _ it, but Sammy kept giving him the out. “He was checking you out,” Jack admitted. 

Sammy laughed and immediately covered his mouth. “Sorry. He wasn’t, though.”

“Uh, he absolutely  _ was _ ,” Jack protested. “He couldn’t take his eyes off your ass.”

“Unlikely,” Sammy said. “But - even if he was, it’s not like I was looking back.”

“I don’t think you would cheat on me,” Jack clarified. “It’s just… I don’t know, okay? I can’t rationalize it.”

Sammy nodded and threaded their fingers together when they turned onto the street of their apartment. “Didn’t you hook up with Mike in second year? Shouldn’t  _ I _ be jealous that you kept noticing him?” His tone was light so Jack knew that he wasn’t serious and was grateful for it. He didn’t know what he’d do if, on top of berating himself for what he was feeling, Sammy doubted him.

“I’m dating you, though,” Jack said.

“Exactly,” Sammy pointed out. “There’s nothing to be - concerned about, or whatever.”

They let go of each others hands as they walked into the bright light of the apartment lobby. 

 

With three people already on the hosting team, there wasn’t a lot of room for guests on their show. They sometimes had people in the studio to cut an ad or to promote whatever they were working on, though, if that’s what the owners of the station wanted them to do.

Their guest that day arrived quietly fifteen minutes into the show while Sammy and Lily tore into each other about… something. Jack was pretty sure it had started with Sammy jumping on Lily for being ‘boring’ while reporting, but it might have started with Lily getting on Sammy’s case for trying to transition into the next segment before her promised news-time was up. He ignored them and waved at the girl, indicating that she needed to stay quiet as she sat in the extra chair they’d dragged into the studio for her over on the other side of Sammy.

“Alright, you two,” Jack interrupted, “as you can see, Stacy Miller is here to talk to us about health services on campus. Stacy?”

“Thanks, Jack,” she replied cheerfully before quickly launching into her prepared speech. Lily visibly clocked out a little bit while she spoke, but Sammy engaged with her and started telling a story about the time he his volunteer applicated with the same group was rejected. Jack had heard it before, all about how Sammy hadn’t really wanted to volunteer with them but thought the hours would look good on his resume. Sammy cut the story off before he had to talk about how petty he got after the rejection and how he would go out of his way to not cross paths with the people talking around campus with clipboards, and Jack let him have that. 

Jack only realized after Sammy was done talking that Stacy had also been watching Sammy intently. 

He tried to ignore it and thanked her for her time, but before she left she handed something to Sammy. Sammy just pocketed it without looking and jumped back into the show, so Jack ignored it, too, until they were ushered out by the next timeslot. 

“What was that about?” he asked, trying to keep his tone casual. Lily picked up her pace to avoid them, though, so he figured it didn’t work.

Sammy looked confused. “What?”

“Stacy,” Jack prompted.

“Who - oh. What about her?”

Jack avoided looking at Sammy. “She - gave you something. Just wondering.”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” Sammy said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He paused when he saw it and looked over at Jack quickly. “It’s, uh, her number. At least I never have to see her again. Is this why you were all annoyed for the last half of the broadcast?”

“I wasn’t annoyed,” Jack muttered.

“Sure.” Sammy looked around, and could only see Lily in the hallway with them. “You  _ know _ you have nothing to worry about with her. For a variety of reasons.”

“I  _ know _ ,” Jack sighed. “It’s not that. I told you, I don’t think you would -” he paused and also looked around them. “I don’t think you would cheat.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Sammy asked, slowing down so he could look at Jack. 

When Jack finally relented and met his eyes he could tell that Sammy was really trying to understand. Too bad that Jack wasn’t sure he understood himself. “I just wish I could be that… open, I guess, with. Being interested in you.”

“I’d say you’re pretty open about it since we, you know, are dating,” Sammy teased.

Jack rolled his eyes. “I know it’s stupid. Don’t worry about it, it’s just -” he shrugged, “being a bit petty.”

Sammy knocked their shoulders together as they exited into the parking lot. “Okay. You can talk to me about it, though, if it’ll help.”

“I know,” Jack said with a tight smile. Sammy didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push it, either.

 

Jack could barely remember her name  _ or  _ why she was in the studio. He was the producer, he knew he should be better than that, but he couldn’t focus on anything other than the way Michelle (maybe it was Michaela? He was pretty sure it was an M-name) kept inching closer to Sammy during the broadcast. The legs of her chair were almost locked with Sammy’s by the end of the program.

“Thanks for coming, Melissa,” Sammy said after the broadcast. 

The woman -  _ Melissa _ , apparently - smiled at Sammy in a way that made Jack’s stomach turn over. “It was a pleasure,” she replied -  _ purred _ , Jacks’ mind supplied, but he pushed that down.

He was pretty sure that he said goodbye to her, too, but he couldn’t remember doing it. They were in the studio and then he and Sammy were in their parked car.

“ _ Please _ tell me what’s wrong,” Sammy begged.

Jack shrugged and looked away. “I’m fine.”

“Sure. But something’s wrong.”

Jack didn’t say anything and Sammy sighed and shifted the car into gear. “Look,” he continued, “you don’t have to tell me, but I care when you’re upset. And you’re really upset right now.”

“Why don’t you ever get jealous of me?” Jack asked, the words tumbling out of him without his permission. It wasn’t what he’d meant to say, but he couldn’t take it back.

Sammy laughed, a startled and quick noise that he cut off almost immediately, and Jack slumped back into his seat. “No, no - I’m sorry. Jack, I’m sorry.” He reached over and took Jack’s hand without looking, and Jack let him. “If I was jealous of everyone that hit on you I’d never have time for anything. It bothers me a little, sure, but it’s not really worth it. Is that what’s wrong? Are you just worried I’m not possessive enough?” Sammy looked over at Jack with a bit of humour in his eye and Jack pressed his lips together.

“I get  _ so _ jealous,” Jack muttered. “And it feels kinda shitty because you don’t, so I just think I’m overreacting or something.”

“Is this about Melissa hitting on me earlier?” Sammy asked.

“Yes - no. No, it’s not about Melissa,” Jack replied. “Not specifically. I just… I don’t know, it’s stupid.”

Sammy squeezed Jack’s hand. “It’s not stupid. You know you don’t  _ have _ to be jealous of them, right? First of all, I’m not gonna leave you for anyone. Second of all, she’s not exactly my type.” 

Jack let out a nervous laugh and threaded his fingers with Sammy’s, sitting up again in the seat. “I know. It’s just - I kind of wish I could do that, sit close to you and be all over you.”

“I kind of wish you could be, too,” Sammy said, looking over and smiling at Jack. He looked back at the road. “Maybe one day,” he added tentatively.

“One day,” Jack agreed.

 

It took a lot to push Jack’s buttons. Most women they had on as guests were all over the Shotgun persona, so he’d gotten used to it. Half of them were all over him, too, anyway. It was easy to repress it all in the studio when they would leave by the end of the hour and go to their car across the parking lot and Sammy and Jack would go to the house they shared.

It was harder at industry parties. It was less contained and less familiar - Jack knew that the studio was a limited space and it belonged to Shotgun, not Sammy. Parties were in a house, usually, sometimes one that they’d been to. Usually, Jack and Sammy split up. Sammy went with the other more ‘personality’ types and Jack hung back with their bosses and other producers. Divide and conquer - Sammy got in with the voices and Jack got in with people who could get them better slots, better brand deals, better everything.

Girls throwing themselves at Sammy - or Jack - happened, but wasn’t part of the plan or the usual run of events. Usually people there were other professionals, and even with the free flowing alcohol people kept  _ that _ to themselves. It also tended to be largely dominated by men, and Jack could hear Lily’s voice in the back of his head about that but he had to ignore it.

Jack still wasn’t expecting to see Sammy and some of the other shock jocks walk back into the living room with a girl who was hanging off Sammy’s waist. She wasn’t even tall enough to reach his shoulders so she was just pressed into his side. 

Sammy’s eyes were glazed and Jack could tell from his movements that the alcohol had been even quicker to flow in the backroom. He lit up when he saw Jack in the unguarded way he tried carefully not to at the studio.

“What’s up?” Jack asked casually, looking around to make sure no one was paying them too much attention. “Who’s your friend?” he added pointedly.

Sammy looked confused. “Who?” Jack nodded at the girl and Sammy looked down at her, startled. “Oh. I dunno.”

The girl pouted and Sammy pushed on her hands lightly to make her let go and she walked away with a shrug, going immediately over to one of the other guys. “Are you -”

“Let’s just go home,” Jack said quickly, reaching to touch Sammy’s arm and pulling back at the last second. Sammy nodded and they both said their goodbyes and left.

“Sorry,” Sammy muttered from the passenger seat. 

Jack shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“You always say that.”

“Because it’s always fine,” Jack said patiently. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I didn’t even notice her,” Sammy admitted. 

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, I figured as much.”

Sammy was quiet for long enough that Jack thought he might have fallen asleep in the car. 

“We should get married,” Sammy said, and Jack almost swerved off the road.

“What?” he said shakily, looking over at Sammy who was still slumped in the darkness.

“One day,” Sammy continued. “Maybe not soon, but - our show’s doing really good, they might not even want to fire us, and if they did then we could probably find something else.”

Jack didn’t answer right away. “Let’s talk about it in the morning, okay? When you’re sober.”

“It’s not a  _ good _ idea, but we should,” Sammy said, sitting up a little bit and looking at Jack. “I want to marry you.”

“I - I want that, too,” Jack answered. “You know I do. But there’s a lot to consider and we should talk it out first. Then we can decide.”

“Well, if I want to marry you, and you want to marry me, does that make us engaged now?” Sammy asked, grinning at Jack in the dark of the car. 

Jack rolled his eyes. “Sure. Might be a long one, though. We can talk about it in the morning.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

 

Sammy really wasn’t used to being on this end of things. He walked into the living room to find Jack and Ben watching some Youtube thing on Ben’s laptop and talking animatedly about it.

“Hey,” he said tentatively, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

Jack and Ben both turned to smile at him brightly and Sammy couldn’t react right away. “Someone’s awake,” Jack teased. “How’d you sleep?”

Sammy shrugged and walked over, putting his hand on the back of Jack’s chair. “What are you guys looking at?”

“‘ _ Top Ten UFO Sightings _ ’,” Ben quoted. 

Sammy nodded slowly. “Okay. Does anyone else want coffee?”

Both of them chorused in agreement and Sammy went to put on a pot. It wasn’t long before Jack followed him into the kitchen, walking up behind him and wrapping his arms around Sammy’s waist. 

“Did you have a nightmare?” Jack asked softly.

Sammy shook his head. “I should be asking you that.”

Jack shrugged. “We both have our moments. Wanna talk about it?”

“I slept fine,” Sammy repeated, staring at the coffee pot like it would make it go faster. 

“I know. I walked into our room a few times and you hadn’t even moved.” Jack laughed a little. “You didn’t even sleep like that before.”

“It’s been a long few months,” Sammy said. The coffee pot kept its steady dripping pace.

“Sure has,” Jack agreed. “Are you jealous of Ben?”

Sammy tried not to tense. “Obviously not.”

Jack started to pull away and Sammy reached to hold him in place. “No, liars don’t get a hug.”

“Maybe a little,” Sammy admitted. “I’m not exactly ‘jealous’ of Ben,” he clarified, “it’s just… you two spend a lot of time together.”

“So do you and Ben,” Jack countered. “I saw Ben braiding your hair last week and  _ I’m _ not even jealous of him.”

Sammy turned around awkwardly so that he was facing Jack. “He told me the other day that you were still… seeing things. He didn’t realize you hadn’t told me, and I -” he sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jack pressed his lips together. “I didn’t want you to look at me like you are right now.”

“I just want you to get better,” Sammy said. “I can’t help if I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing you can really do,” Jack said softly. “I’m not gonna get better, Sammy. Not really - there’s always gonna be more problems, stuff we can’t even anticipate. I don’t want to worry you with everything.”

“That’s just gonna make me worry about what you  _ aren’t _ telling me. What if something gets worse, but you didn’t tell me to start with so I don’t even know what to look for?”

“You’re just gonna have to trust that I’ll say if something’s important,” Jack said, tilting his head forwards to rest it against Sammy’s. “I promise I’ll tell you if there’s anything noteworthy, okay? But I don’t need you to… wrap me in bubble wrap or whatever you’re thinking of.”

“I wasn’t thinking that,” Sammy muttered. “Maybe a big quilt.”

Jack laughed. “I’m fine right now, okay? Do you trust me?”

Sammy closed his eyes and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Then act like it.” Jack leaned in and kissed him. Sammy would never take it for granted again when he let himself melt against Jack, reaching up to touch his face. Kissing Jack with other people even a little bit nearby was a novelty -

“You guys are too cute,” Ben said from the doorway. “Is there coffee coming?”

They pulled away just as Ben moved over to try and get behind Sammy at the coffee pot. “Don’t mind me,” he continued. “Just trying to stay up until Emily gets here at least.”

Sammy moved away to give him space and felt Jack laugh against his chest. “How could you ever be jealous of Ben?”

“Someone’s jealous of me?” Ben asked, delighted. 

Sammy groaned. “Don’t let it go to his head.”

“Too late,” Ben said cheerfully, pouring himself a cup of coffee leaving the kitchen. 

“He’s never gonna let that go,” Sammy muttered.

Jack grinned. “You kinda love it.”

“I love  _ you _ ,” Sammy countered. 

“Sap,” Jack murmured, starting to move away, but he let Sammy reel him in for another kiss. 


End file.
